Samsung Galaxy Gear to run on Android 4.3 with no browser or keyboard: Report

After VentureBeat’s Sunday scoop of Galaxy Gear images, GigaOM has published a new report with more details of the Samsung smartwatch. The blog however contradicts with VentureBeat on various points including the display size of Galaxy Gear.

According to GigaOM, the images published by VentureBeat are of a prototype, which was sent to some developers in the past and according to its sources, Samsung has a more refined version of the smartwatch sitting somewhere ready to be announced on September 4. It also notes that the display size of Galaxy Gear will only be 2.5-inch unlike VentureBeat’s 3-inch claim.

In addition, the smartwatch will run on Android 4.3 with some features turned off including keyboard access and browser. The Galaxy Gear will work with any smartphone that comes with Bluetooth LE support, not just Samsung Android devices.

GigaOM also claims that Samsung Galaxy Gear will give a battery backup of 24 hours on modest use and 10 hours with a more active use. This is certainly better than the a total of 10 hours+ battery life that we have been hearing about until now but still not ideal.

Here is a quick recap of Samsung Galaxy Gear specifications that we know right now

Android 4.3 (some features turned off)

2.5-inch OLED display with 320x320p resolution

1.5GHz dual-core processor (Exynos 4212 with Mali 400 GPU?)

4MP camera

1GB of RAM

Microphone, Speakers

Work with any smartphone with Bluetooth LE but will need a Samsung device with Gear Manager app to install apps on the smartwatch